Detroit mayor charged with perjury in text messaging flap

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick today was charged with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted what he said under oath regarding an affair with former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty.

Kilpatrick was also charged with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. Beatty, who also testified under oath that she didn’t have any romantic relationship with the mayor, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice as well. She has since resigned because of the scandal.

The explicit text messages were included in documents that The Detroit Free Press received under the state’s public records law throughout its ongoing investigations of the mayor.